'Racism is embedded in our society': how attacks on immigrants in Ohio highlight US disinformation crisis | US elections 2024 | The Guardian
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Donald Trump's 'pet eating' conspiracy shows how falsehoods driven by political bias are spread
In recent weeks, racist conspiracy theories about immigrants have dominated the election cycle. High-ranking Republicans have doubled down on unsubstantiated rumors about Black and brown migrants, tapping into anxieties that immigrants are responsible for increased crime in US cities.
During last week's presidential debate, Donald Trump echoed a baseless claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets. "In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating - they're eating the pets of the people that live there," the Republican nominee said.
And in response to a question about high costs of living, Trump alluded to viral rumors that members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were taking over a Colorado apartment complex. "You look at Aurora in Colorado. They are taking over the towns. They're taking over buildings. They're going in violently."
Both claims are completely untrue.
Experts argue that the spread of such disinformation amplifies existing xenophobic beliefs within the American psyche as a means of political gain. "It's so dangerous when people with a platform are repeating these very fabricated rumors," said Gladis Ibarra, co-executive director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. "These are very much part of a large coordinated strategy to continue to demonize our immigrant neighbors. It's undermining the values of our nation and historically what people have said this nation stands for."
Misinformation (inaccurate information that is spread unknowingly) and disinformation (false information that is meant to mislead) are widely shared via social media platforms, despite a push for fact checking and accuracy since the 2016 presidential election. The phenomenon of inaccurate news still occurs at alarming rates as people's online algorithms are largely driven by their political biases, according to Jeffrey Layne Blevins, a journalism professor at the University of Cincinnati.
"[The algorithm] is merely designed to keep users engaged," Blevins said, referring to metrics such as how long a person looks at content or shares it in their feed. "And what tends to engage most people? Things that outrage them or piss them off."
Blevins added that rightwing figures share disinformation in hopes of "outraging people on the political right", especially during an election cycle. Such content is accepted as truth by those online who already share rightwing beliefs themselves. "It creates an echo chamber of sorts," he said. "When public figures who share your political beliefs post content like this - people are more likely to accept it at face value."
Republicans at all levels of government have linked immigrants to instances of violent crime, including drug smuggling and assault. During his campaign for the 2016 presidential election, Trump claimed Mexicans crossing the US southern border were "rapists", "bringing drugs, bringing crime". He began the construction of a wall along the border - among other anti-immigrant policies - to deter "large sacks of drugs [from being thrown] over". During this election cycle, Trump has said that undocumented people are "animals" who are "poisoning the blood of our country", despite immigrants being significantly less likely to commit crimes than US-born citizens.
The demonization of immigrants is a repeated move by lawmakers to secure votes, said German Cadenas, an associate professor at Rutgers University who specializes in the psychology of immigration. "Immigration is really not as divisive as some politicians are trying to make it out to be," he said, as 64% of Americans believe immigration is beneficial for the country. "It's a tactic that has been used historically to mobilize voters who feel threatened."
For centuries, Cadenas said, politicians built policy around the stereotype that immigrants are a "threat" to US identity and safety. Anti-immigration laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the 1924 Immigration Act were among the first to curtail US immigration based on nationality. The Chinese Exclusion Act came largely after high-ranking union members warned of a "Chinese invasion" that would steal white, American jobs. Similarly, US senators advised their fellow legislators to "shut the door" on immigrants as a migrating population would "encroach upon the reserve and virgin resources" of the US, before the passage of the 1924 Immigration Act.
Fast forward to the early 2000s, as states such as Arizona passed laws allowing local law enforcement to target anyone they believed was in the country without documentation. Arizona Republicans called arriving undocumented people an "invasion that must be stopped" and a "national security threat", a political tactic to encourage support of the controversial bill.
Politicians also attempt to etch out a voting bloc by passing anti-immigrant policies. "Historically, these stereotypes, these falsehoods, have [then] been used to mobilize voters to elect policymakers who are going to make anti-immigrant laws and policies."
Even as most Americans have a positive view of immigration, Cadenas said: "Racism and xenophobia are deeply embedded in our society and our psychology." A study by Cadenas and Elizabeth Kiehne found that white US adults are most susceptible to the core stereotype of Latino immigrants being a threat.
"The anti-immigrant rhetoric is less about convincing than about amplifying and strengthening beliefs that are already held," Cadenas said. "It takes large efforts to unlearn these problematic beliefs and biases."
Disinformation about immigrants has consequences, Cadenas and Ibarra said. "Across the nation, a number of states have an 'anti-immigrant policy climate'," Cadenas said, meaning those states pass laws that make the lives of immigrants harder.
"A small minority of folks who are threatened by immigration are electing policymakers who are crafting policies that are negative towards immigrants," he added "These policies trickle down to housing. They trickle down to the way that authorities deal with immigration at the local level. These policies trickle down to healthcare and the kinds of access to health and mental health that immigrants have."
In Aurora, Venezuelan residents of the aforementioned apartment complex have said they feel unsafe after the rumors of a gang takeover and they fear being stereotyped as criminals.
Springfield has received more than 33 bomb threats since Trump's statements at the debate. Its city hall was evacuated, along with some local schools. Springfield hospitals are also on alert, and Haitian immigrants say they have received several threats.
"People that are hardworking, contributing to our communities, are not the danger, Ibarra said. "The danger is all of these violent ideologies that are being fueled by the people that repeat these lies, by the people that go on social media and on TV and continue to repeat them."
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JD can't hide his bigotry.
when either of those 2 assholes go all in with the xenophobic bullshit on the campaign trail, it can make it seem like there's been no progress at all. the complete moral and patriotic collapse of the republican party has been epic. the extremists have totally regressed and submitted complete fealty to an authoritarian cult leader bent upon on the destruction of america, to the benefit of very few.
I watched a rally tonight. A Trump rally. He promised them everything: Cheap gas, cheap food, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime... and he warned against the Marxist, communist, fascist dictatorship that country was headed for if Ka-MA-la got elected.
He was a caricature of himself. It is completely amazing that he can say this shit and there are waves of applause from people who really should know that he is lying.
It is amazing how his followers fall for his BS.
it pisses me off. I never would've retired from sales if I'd known there were that many fucking gullible morons walking around the place ...
Arvo...never a truer word spoken..
Seems a lot of Americans really do manage to survive on one brain cell..
they're breathing our air and drinking our water, what a waste ...
Croc bait..🐊
Good idea, shona.
happy snappy.
I personally think those Americans are sharing that one brain cell
why do you want to poison those poor crocs?
They are like the cockroaches. Undefeated on this planet.
the marine corp of the reptile world ...
They remove all incriminating evidence naturally and environmental friendly...so a win win all around..
All the ticket has to do is say it and it becomes so. No fuss, no muss, you don't even have to add water
Sadly, these are now alternate facts.
JD was started a new lie about the Haitians that they have spread disease in Ohio, tb and others again proved to be false.
it's the 100th anniversary of the racist conservative election lies that brown people are invading with drugs, disease, and crime. which is enthusiastically celebrated by the maga party participants that willingly engage, promote, and profit from all three. it's all they have to run on ...
And I bet he has no facts to back that up
They do not, and in fact, the medical community destroyed it by stating that there has been no increase in the number of cases.
JD liar liar pants on fire.
racism is the 2024 maga party platform ...
He's just trying to focus our attention via parables /S
establishing the official maga deflection starting point for the media ...